Cato and Clove
by swimmergirl103
Summary: My version of Cato and Clove's relationship. What happens when two kids fall in love in the Hunger Games? After all, only one prevails. Oneshot of Cato and Clove in the arena.


_I'M SO SORRY! I know I should be updating my other stories but this was just too hard to resist! Anyways, I hope you like it; I actually like the Cato/Clove shipping. It's a little one-shot inspired by "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John. I hope you like it! _

You know You Can't Hold Me Forever

Jabrion Tencil stuck his hand into the girl's glass ball and pulled out a slip.

"And the ladies tribute is…Clove Meadows! Come on up here Clove!"

Clove smiled viciously. That smile just about summed her up, vicious. She was a lot of things, but mostly vicious. She was smart. She was pretty. She was an expert knife-thrower. And her last name just covered it until the moment she attacked. Meadows, you could think of her as a meadow, a vicious, knife-throwing, deadly meadow, but a meadow none the less.

She strutted up there like she just won the lottery, because in her district, district 2, it was just like she did. She didn't expect to be picked, but she knew that if it had been anybody else, she would've volunteered for them, so in any situation, she was going to the games.

Jabrion rustled his hand before picking one of the slips out of the boy's glass ball.

"And for the boy tribute, Avery Meadows!"

The smirk on Clove's 16 year old face disappeared immediately. No, this couldn't be happening. It wasn't her 14 year old brother's name just called to be in the Games with her.

But it was, and her small, dark haired, dark eyed, scrawny little brother made his way out of the crowd and towards the stage.

No. This was not happening. Not happening.

All the sudden, a big booming voice called out, "I volunteer!"

The crowd parted for a very big guy. He was at least 6'2 and weighed about 230 pounds of pure muscle. He had blond hair and blue eyes. His name was Cato.

"I volunteer!" He said with triumph. Clove regained her composure and her confident smile, but on the inside, she was so relieved she felt like crying.

Cato, meanwhile, made his way past Avery and crowds of staring people. Some awed, some jealous, and some fearful. The girls were, as usual, fawning over him and his courage and strength and talent. Clove knew him. She actually knew him very well. She should because they had been training together since they could hold a weapon. She knew he was just as or more lethal than her. And he knew that she was just as or more lethal than him.

They were led to their Justice Building and into individual rooms, all the while not talking to each other.

Clove sat on one of the chairs provided, waiting for her little brother to come in, he was the only one who actually loved and cared about her. Just as she expected, about a minute later, the door burst open and a flying tackle hug was directed toward her from Avery. He was sniffling and there was a trail of tears on his cheeks.

Clove held him close. "Shhhh, shhhh. It's alright. Hey, are those tears I see?" She held him at an arm's length with her hands on his shoulders. He nodded.

"Come on, no one in the Meadows family cry, do they?" He swiped his sleeve across his face, wiping the tears free of his face.

"There, isn't that better? You've got to be brave my little soldier. I'll come home from war; you just have to wait for me, alright?"

"I-I don't want you to leave Clove. I don't want you to die."

"I know, and that's why I'm coming back. Do you hear me? I'm coming back." The peace-keeper came in and proclaimed it was time Avery left. He hugged me one last time and allowed himself to be led out of the room, but at the last moment, he spun around and yelled, "I love you Clove!"

Clove stood up upon answering. "I love you to!" Then the door closed and she sat down again. "I love you to." She whispered.

…

In Cato's room, he was pacing restlessly. The door opened and his mom came in. His dad was a peace-keeper somewhere.

"Hi mom."

"Hey Cato, how are you?"

"I'm fine, great actually. This is my dream mom! I'm finally in the Games!"

"You're going to win right?"

"Yeah mom, I _am_ going to win. No doubt about it."

"You're so confident Cato. I admire that about you. Good-bye. I love you." She was escorted out by a peace-keeper, only looking back once.

Next were his best friends, Kenton, Mansly, Bargon, and Jeshlan. He was quite popular, and these four guys were his absolute best friends, but they were his gang also, for he bullied a lot of others at school.

"Hey! Congrats man! I am so jealous, but I don't think I could do a better job than you." Said Mansly, slapping him on the back.

"Yeah, but look who he's going in with, Clove Meadows," said Barjon, there were some ohhhs and whistles, "She is pretty but very deadly. Has the attitude of a champion, nicely done Cato!"

Barjon, with his hazel eyes and floppy chestnut hair was the ladies' man of the group, always hitting on girls and having a new girlfriend every week. Jeshlan, who was tan with black curly hair, was very muscular, though not as much as Cato. He was quiet but deadly when angry. Mansly was just another admirer who looked to Cato for protection and power. He had a buzz cut of sandy blond hair and was kind of scraggly looking, Cato didn't know how he even got into the group, maybe he kept him because he was easy to get along with and could settle fights sometimes, and he'd probably have to rethink his choice of friends when he got back from the Games. Kenton was Cato's right hand man. He had sandy hair down to his eyebrows and dark brown, almost black, eyes. He was supportive, deadly, and he was the only guy other than Jeshlan who could give him an actual challenge in swords, running, etc. Kenton and Cato had known each other since the first day in the training center, and they had become friends over the years so now he was his best friend.

"Good-luck man, I'll see you back here in about two weeks. Oh, and there's a whole line of girls out there, good luck." Kenton was the last one to speak to him before the peace-keeper came in and announced they had to leave.

"Hey, don't let anyone else in, okay; I don't want any girls in here." Cato told the peace-keeper. The peace-keeper nodded and left. He heard a muffled shout from outside the door and the despaired moans of the girls hopefully waiting to get to talk to Cato.

…

(The setting is the opening ceremonies)

As Clove donned her attire, she glanced at her competition. It was always one of the most important lessons as a kid in training.

_Always assess your competition; you need to know your enemy to defeat them._

District one, definite allies, both lethal. District three, may be useful, need to research more. District four, same as three. Districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, all equally useless. They'd probably die in the blood-bath or within the first few days. She'd see to that. 11, though, one of them might be useful. The big guy. He was probably worth making an alliance with. The girl, not so much. As for twelve, they would be interesting. The girl looked lethal; the boy looked scared but lovesick with the girl. It disgusted her. They would be the first ones she'd kill outside the blood-bath. She glanced at Cato, who was either doing the same thing or just checking the girl from one and the girl from twelve out.

"Cato, you need to get dressed." He was still in his reaping clothes. He nodded and went to go get dressed, something on his mind.

When they got into their chariot, the anthem played and district one went. It was their turn. They encroached to the path waving to the fans, both putting on an I'm-going-to-win-don't-you-doubt-it face and when they were approaching their spot, their arose a tumultuous cheer from the crowd. Clove glanced at the screen and saw not Cato and her in their golden apparel, but twelve with flames licking their bodies and dissipating in the air behind them as they held their intertwined hands high in the air. She and Cato both frowned and glared at them, but Cato's glare eventually became a calculating stare and then an evil smile. Clove felt a bad urge to stick a knife into Cato's and both of twelve's stomachs and the leave them on the ground to die a slow, excruciatingly painful death.

…

(The setting is in the training room)

Clove threw knife after knife, never missing her target. She was smiling like a maniac because, well, she was one, but also because when she heard the thud-thud-thud of three consecutive knives hit their target, it made her smile. Someone approached her. In her opinion, they were either really stupid or really brave to do this while she had a knife in her hand.

"I'm joining you." said a cocky male voice. She turned to see Cato beside her, a sword sheathed in his scabbard and a knife in his hand.

"Maybe you'd consider asking next time, I was about to impale you with a knife."

"You know you couldn't do that if you tried." smirked Cato. Clove was immediately angered; she couldn't stand it when someone thought she couldn't do something, especially a guy.

"You want to bet?" she said through clenched teeth, automatically making her hands into a fist and becoming stiff.

Cato laughed. "Yeah, let's do that! I think everyone knows I would win!"

Pure loathing clouded Clove's vision, making everything tinged red. "You don't know how hard I'm trying not to hurt you." By then, they had attracted the attention of the whole gym, including the instructor, who was calling to the peace-keepers. Cato's booming laughter filled the place again.

"You? Hurt me?" he laughed incredulously.

"Yeah, you want to try it out?" Cato just grinned because just then two peace-keepers came and escorted Clove away.

…

Cato continued to throw knives and visit the sword station. He thought about what he just did. He had to. His mentor made him so that in the arena, it would look like they had an alliance but wouldn't have any trouble killing each other as the final two. The truth was even more painful than the blows he received from his mentor. The truth was more embarrassing than Kenton beating him in the mile. The truth was harder to admit than believing the girl from 11 would win. The truth was that he was completely in love with Clove Meadows.

…

(The setting is in the arena)

Clove sat with her back against a tree, watching with disgust as Cato and Glimmer, the girl from 1, flirted in the firelight. He would say something and she would laugh, occasionally lightly touching his arm and flirtatiously smiling at him. How could they flirt when they were waiting for _Katniss_ to get down from her tree?

Clove stood up abruptly. She had to get away from this. She couldn't stand it anymore.

"I'm going." Cato looked up from where he was laughing with Glimmer with a curious gleam in his eye.

"Where?" Clove glanced at him contemptuously.

"Why should you care? Go back to what you were doing." She spat at him. She stalked off toward the trees with a belt full of knives.

Clove puffed out air as she had only been throwing for about 10 minutes. She put all her hurt, all her pain into the throws. She put every emotion except lethalness and viciousness into them, hoping to leave them buried in the thick trunk of the tree she was currently throwing at. Suddenly, she sensed a presence and a hand fell upon her shoulder. She whirled around and with the trespasser's hands pinned behind them and a knife against their throat tried to see who it was in the fading light.

"Cl-Clove!" Cato's choke sputtered from the mouth of the assailant.

"Cato? I told you at the training center; it isn't wise to come near me when I have knives."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't always listen to advice." Clove turned to the tree.

"What are you doing here, anyways? Shouldn't you be back with your girlfriend?"

"I came to find you, to answer your first question. As for the second, she's not my girlfriend."

Clove snorted. "Don't let her hear that."

"Why are you acting like this?" Clove glared at him.

"Acting like what?"

"Like Glimmer is all I care about?"

"I'm not, even if you are. I'm acting like you shouldn't get too close to anyone."

"You know what I think?"

"Knowing you, probably nothing."

"I think you're jealous." Clove turned on him.

"Jealous?!" she said incredulously, "Of Glimmer?!"

"Yeah."

"Cato, I really think you get out of here."

"Why, afraid to face the truth?"

"No, trying to control my anger and trying not to hurt you."

"Whatever Clove." He left. Clove continued to throw knives the hardest she had yet. Trying to bury her anger. Trying to bury her jealousy. But most of all, trying to bury an emotion she had never felt outside of her brother.

She was trying to bury love, because she was completely in love with Cato.

…

Cato sat in the Cornucopia, repaying what just happened. Trackerjackers. Running and jumping into the lake. Hearing Glimmer's pleading cry but still running. It was so quick, and now that he'd gotten rid of that boy-Peeta, from 12-they could do so many more things. He looked over at Clove. She was soaking wet but that hard look of raw determination was still in her eye. She glanced over at him and smiled, just the tiniest hint of a smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"You ok?"

"I'm going to get her. I'm going to kill her."

"Me too Clove. We'll always be together." She gave him a strange look, but it disappeared quickly.

"Let's set up camp." Clove said. Cato nodded.

They sat with Marvel, warming up by the fire.

"Marvel, tomorrow I need you to spy on the net trap. Don't be in a tree nearby or anything, but in the forest a little bit away." Cato said. Marvel nodded.

"Clove and I will be searching for the remaining tributes if they're near." Benny-the boy from 4-blinked.

"What should I do?"

"Benny, stay here and guard the food and supplies. You know the way around the mines. Make sure no one steals or destroys anything." He nodded. The anthem played and the tributes appeared in the sky. Glimmer. He closed his eyes as the image disappeared. Clove stood up.

…

"I'm going on a perimeter scope. Throw some knives. Be back in about ten minutes." Cato stood up also.

"I'll come with you."

"No, you can stay."

"Clove, you aren't getting rid of me that easy." She just rolled her eyes.

As they walked into the forest to find a good tree, things were awkward.

"I'm sorry about Glimmer." Clove said reluctantly. Cato snorted.

"No you aren't. You hated her from the start." Clove smiled slightly.

"Yeah, you're right. But I feel sorry for you about her." Cato stopped.

"Don't feel sorry for me. I don't need your pity."

"I'm not pitying you. I don't pity anyone. I just said I feel for you."

"Same thing."

"Whatever. Let's just keep going." Clove stalked off quickly.

They finally found a tree. Clove threw knife after knife, not looking at Cato. The ten minutes were up in no time, and they found themselves at the tree line to the open space surrounding the Cornucopia. Clove kept walking but Cato caught her arm.

"I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier."

"I don't need your pity." Clove snapped sarcastically. With that she wrenched her arm away and stomped toward the fire.

_Way to go Cato. It's the umpteenth time you've managed to make her mad. Smooth dude. _

He stalked angrily off toward the fire after Clove, angrier at himself than Clove.

He sat by the fire, both of them seething. Marvel was looking at both of them as if observing a tennis match.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Cato nearly bellowed.

"Nothing!" Clove snapped at the same time. Marvel shut up and sat back with eyes wide and staring straight ahead and his lips pinched together, like a student when their normally calm teacher yells at them. They spent the rest of the night in silence.

…

BOOM! An enormous explosion shook the entire arena, and Clove sensed it was most likely the food, since the mines were the only things that could possibly set off such an explosion. As she and Cato raced back to the Cornucopia, they could already see the smoke rising from the clearing. They got there and saw a very scared and disoriented Benny.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Cato demanded. He was angry. He was furious. When he was furious, even Clove was a tad bit afraid of him. Afraid couldn't even describe a portion of what Benny looked like right now. Benny looked like he was going to pee his pants and run to his mommy crying for his blanky.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Cato demanded again.

"I-mines-stolen," Benny tried to stutter an answer but didn't get the chance. A sickening crack ran out as Cato effortlessly snapped his neck.

BOOM! Benny's cannon echoed inside the arena. Clove smiled faintly. They spent the afternoon trying to scrape together any remains, but they came up with nothing, it had all been obliterated.

"Shouldn't Marvel be back yet?" Cato looked up from the log he was sitting on.

"Yeah."

BOOM! BOOM! Two cannons sounded. Two tributes deceased. Six tributes left.

"Who-"Cato cut himself off, but we were both wondering the same thing. Whose cannons were they?

…

The anthem played. Three tributes-Benny, Marvel, and the girl from 11, Rue was it? They were the last careers left.

"We have us, 12, Thresh, and the girl with the red hair. We have a chance."

There was a screech and then a voice.

"_A new rule has been issued. There may be two winners as long as they are from the same district. Thank you, and may the odds be ever in your favor."_

Clove and Cato looked at each other. "We have a chance!" They smiled and started a fire.

"We've got to hunt Katniss down. She's the one who caused this." Clove nodded. They heard a rustle in the bushes behind them and both immediately grabbed their weapons and went to investigate. The rustling stopped but they ventured farther into the woods.

"Cato, what's that patch right there?" Clove pointed out a patch of grass that was sunken and darker green than the others.

"I don't know." They went over to it and all the sudden, the ground crumbled from under their feet. They had fallen into a trap.

They hit the ground hard. They both got up frantically.

"Oh no no no. I can't stay here! I've got to get out!" Clove screamed. Cato grabbed her and looked her in the eyes.

"Clove, calm down! What's wrong?"

"I-I'm claustrophobic!" Cato gave her a look that said 'oh'.

"Clove, you've got to calm down! You're making it worse for yourself if you panic."

"That's the problem! I can't stop panicking!" Cato looked helpless, but did the only thing he really could do. Cato pulled Clove in close and smashed his lips upon hers.

It worked, she stopped panicking. She pulled away and looked at him with wild eyes. Then she hugged him and he hugged her back. They had fallen into another trap. But this trap was so much more deadly than falling into a hole. They had fallen into the trap of love.

…

"We've got to get out of here."

"Mmmhhhh. We do." Cato grabbed a vine that had fallen with them and made a slip knot. He slung it blindly up through the hole and it miraculously caught a branch.

"I'm going to climb up and I'll pull you up."

Clove nodded, looking like a crazy person. Cato was up and out the hole in no time. Clove grabbed the vine and Cato hauled her up. They set off toward the fire.

Another screech. Another voice.

"_Hello again tributes. Only six of you remain. Each of you need something certain and we will be having a, feast if you will, at the Cornucopia today at noon. If you wish to survive, be there. May the odds be ever in your favor." It clicked off. _

"What do we need?" asked Cato.

"Food."

"You're right. We need a plan."

"I'll go."

Cato looked at her. "What?"

"I'll go; you stay in the woods nearby."

"What!? No!"

"Cato, face it, I'm faster than you and I can throw distance."

"But what if you're in trouble?"

"That's where you come in. If I'm in trouble, you come and give me backup." Cato didn't like the idea of backup.

"Cato, I'll be fine, honestly. I'll catch Katniss, kill her, and be back in time for tea."

"We don't have tea."

"It's a figure of speech."

"Ok, it's about 9:00 right now. We have 3-4 hours."

They wasted time chucking knives at falling leaves. It was 11:45 when they started for the clearing. They were about 200 meters from the tree line when they stopped.

"This is where I leave you then."

"Clove, try not to get killed." He kissed her again. She hugged him.

"I love you Cato."

"I love you too Clove." She looked up at him.

"Bye."

"Bye."

Clove crouched behind a tree and watched. The red haired girl caught her by surprise. She was sneaky. She'd track her down after she killed Katniss, because once Katniss was dead, Peeta would die too. A flash of brown hair streaked across the clearing. Clove took off.

Katniss caught sight of her and tried to shoot an arrow at her, but Clove deflected it. She threw a knife and it cut a gash into Katniss's forehead. She tackled her and wrestled her to the ground, putting her feet on Katniss's wrists and brought out a knife.

"Hey Katniss. How are you? I can see you aren't very fine." Clove taunted her.

"Where should I start? Mouth? Nose? Ears? Maybe I'll kill you exactly how we killed your ally. What was her name? Rue?" She suddenly felt a force slam into her and lift her up.

"CATO! CATO! HELP ME CATO!"

"Did you kill her!? You said her name! Did you kill her!?"

"NO! NO!" Something hard slammed into her temple. Her vision got fuzzy. She couldn't think. The big guy got off her, but she couldn't move. Katniss ran away, as did Thresh. Cato came into her vision and her head was lifted onto his lap.

"No. No no no. This isn't happening! Clove! Clove, you've got to stay with me!" his voice was so full anguish that a tear rolled down her cheek. She summoned the will to speak.

"C-Cato." She croaked.

"Clove!" Cato had tears streaming down his face.

"A-are those t-tears I s-see?"

"Clove,, you can't die! Please, I love you Clove! Don't leave me."

"Don't worry my big soldier." She started coughing up blood. "I'll be home soon."

"Clove. No!"

"Y-you know you can't hold me forever."

"I'll be here till your last breath. I'm not leaving you."

"Avenge me. Avenge me Cato."

"I will. Clove, I'll avenge your death. I love you."

Cato's face got farther and farther away. Tears were streaming down his face.

_I love you Cato. _Clove didn't have the strength to speak anymore. _I love you._

The light faded from her eyes. She was gone.

…

Thresh lay dead in front of Cato, a deep gash across his chest. Cato felt empty. He was dead. Not physically, but mentally. Emotionally. He didn't feel anything. He was just…there. He had been dying ever since Clove's death.

There was a rustle in the bushes. Then a growl. A mutant dog leaped from the bushes and Cato impaled it. Two more took its place so Cato ran. He felt claws rake his calf and turned around to kill another mongrel. Then he did something so stupid he couldn't believe himself.

He ran into a tree.

The bark made a wound on him head but he shook his head and ran a full speed toward the Cornucopia. He got there and scrambled up just in time to see the mongrels veer off and start chasing Katniss and Peeta. Cato narrowed his eyes. They helped each other up and just when they thought they were safe, Cato grabbed Katniss tried to break her neck, but Peeta budged in and tackled him. He threw Peeta off and Katniss was still struggling to her feet. He pushed her back down and her head was so close to the mutt's mouths that it there had been a stick for them to step on, they would have been able to rip her head off. Just as she was about to die though, Peeta pried him off of her, but Cato got Peeta into a headlock.

"Try it Katniss. If you shoot me, he goes down with me. Do you want him to die?" Katniss looked so at war with herself that I chuckled. But it wasn't a happy chuckle. It was the laugh of a madman.

"Go ahead. I'm dead anyways. I always have been." Tears were starting to form. Clove. It was true. Without Clove, he was nothing. She was the very reason of his existence. Now she was gone. And so was he. He was dead because he didn't have Clove here, by his side, fighting viciously with her presence giving him strength to fight another day.

The arrow flew and pierced his hand, making him falter and fall into the mouths of the all too eager mutts. With the invincible armor he had since the beginning on, he endured hours of agony. He wasn't screaming because of the pain the mutts were giving him, he was screaming for Clove, in agony that she was gone. He just wanted to die, and then he could see her again.

He faintly saw the arrow fly towards him and pierce him.

_I love you Clove. _

He died thinking of her.

THE END

_Yes, I know it's sad, and I also know I should be working on m other story, but I really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you enjoyed reading it!_

_Grace be with you,_

_Swimmergirl103_


End file.
